MTorrice writes: "When men and women plan their personal birth control strategies, men scan a much smaller menu of options than women do. A woman can pick from two types of intrauterine devices (IUDs), several forms of hormonal contraception such as the pill, multiple barrier methods such as diaphragms, or two sterilization procedures. A man can choose between a condom or a vasectomy.

Despite decades of research on male contraceptives, no treatment has moved past clinical trials to reach the market. And in the past five years, the few pharmaceutical players working on male contraception have mothballed their programs. Experts say part of the problem is that the normal hurdles drugs face—achieving high efficacy and low toxicity—are even higher for male contraceptives. A story in Chemical & Engineering News discuses work to develop new drugs that could overcome these barriers."